2. Create a video, using the song as the audio track. There's also a karaoke version if you'd rather record yourself singing the song. (It's not like it's a complicated song. We're pirates! But for those of you who need the lyrics in writing, see below)

(Don't know how to download the files? What are ye doin' on the Internet, mate? Rightclick - or click-and-hold, fer those o' the Apple persuasion - the link and choose "save link target as ...")

Your video can include any images ye wish, from you scuttling a schooner and battlin' buccaneers (as long as you understand we're not legally responsible for anything you do), pillaging with yer crew at a pirate festival, or crooning lustily to yer wench with a concertina 'neath the shade of the weeping willow.

Or use shots of yer favorite cartoon or movie pirates, spliced together all fanfiction-like. Aye! (Again, see note about us not being legally responsible.)

Those are our only two rules: Be creative and use Tom Mason's song as the soundtrack! (Though ye might want to take a gander at the fine print, below).

4. MAKE SURE your video's slugline includes: ITLAPDAY2012VIDEOCONTEST. That's how we'll be able to find the entries. If you don't include that in the slugline, it doesn't matter how good your video is. We probably won't see it.

If you want to make absolutely sure we see your entry, email us the YouTube URL when you have it online.

5. Deadline for submissions is September 9th. The members of Team Pirate will view all the entries and announce the winner on International Talk Like a Pirate Day, Sept. 19.

The winning entry will be featured on the Official Lusty Pirate Wench's YouTube channel, and, if ye be the Chosen One, we will send ye some swag – including but not necessarily limited to a T-shirt! A NEW T-shirt, mind you, not one we found under Ol' Chumbucket's hammock. You also get the braggin' rights for being the one to create an original music video for the incomparable Tom Mason, which is reward enough in itself, ye greedy curs!

The Lyrics

If ye be a lusty lad , Talk Like a Pirate (three times)
It's talk Like a Pirate Day!

If ye be a lively lass Talk Like a Pirate (three times)
It's talk Like a Pirate Day!

Chorus 1 & 3:

For one day a year/We bark like buccaneers
So shout “Ahoy” and “heave to” and join our pirate crew

If you're shy and need some nerve Talk Like a Pirate (three times)
It's talk Like a Pirate Day!

If you want to woo a wench Talk Like a Pirate (three times)
It's talk Like a Pirate Day!

Chorus 2:

For one day a year/We prance like privateers
With swagger we bellow "Aarr!"/As we stagger from the bar

If ye’d be on Blackbeard’s crew, Talk Like a Pirate (three times)
It's talk Like a Pirate Day!

If ye dance a peg-leg jig, Talk Like a Pirate (three times)
It's talk Like a Pirate Day!

For one day a year/We bark like buccaneers
So shout “Ahoy” and “heave to” and join our pirate crew

The fine print

This contest is run solely
by and for the use of The Pirate Guys, LLC.

All prizes to be awarded, as well as the reasons
for awarding them, are exclusively to be determined by the Pirate
Guys, LLC and are subject to change without notice.

By entering the contest, you grant The Pirate
Guys, LLC, and Tom Mason nonexclusive rights to share and promote your video, including embedding it on this Website, our Facebook page, etc. or using it in other projects (with credit to you).

All entries
will be reviewed by the Pirate Guys, LLC, for suitability.

5. Determination of what constitutes "suitability"
is entirely within the purview of the Pirate Guys, LLC.

Contestants are responsible for ensuring that their videos meet YouTube's rules and restrictions, particularly as regards the use of copyrighted material. The Pirate Guys, LLC can't help ye if yer YouTube video gets blocked or yer account suspended for copyright violations.

All rules and the conduct of the game itself
are subject to arbitrary and capricious change. Just as a pirate
ship goes where the wind blows, so this contest will go where
our whims take us.

Contestants agree that they are responsible
for their own submissions, and will not hold the Pirate Guys,
LLC, or those near and dear to them liable for any adverse consequences
to their participation in this contest.

The contestants agree that the Pirate
Guys are a pair of handsome, dashing rogues, and that Tom Mason ain't a
bad lookin' fella either.